What to do about a report of a dangerous instructor?

[Leejnd]

I just got back from a fantastic dive trip to Belize. (The dive shop we used was Belize Diving Services on Caye Caulker -- can't say enough wonderful things about them -- dive reports to come soon in the Central American forum!) While we were on a topside van tour of Mayan ruins, we got to chatting with a young woman in our van who had just finished getting her OW with a different dive shop in Belize (on Ambergris Caye). She told us horror stories that made our jaw drop! She knew she was unhappy with the instructor, but I don't think she realized just how BAD it was until she saw our horrified faces as she related the story. This instructor did so many dangerous things that he should be banned from DIVING, much less teaching!

Here's a short and incomplete list of his transgressions:

1. He tried to send her down with faulty equipment. Her BCD had a leak in it and would not hold air...when she'd inflate it on the surface, it would quickly bubble out and she'd start sinking. She told him she was having a hard time staying afloat with it, and he said not to worry about it, that she'd be underwater shortly and then it wouldn't matter. (!) She refused to continue and got back on the boat. The instructor was clearly annoyed with her for this, but did give her a different BC -- and then proceeded to give the defective one to another student!

2. When she began her first OW descent, she had a little trouble clearing her ears, so she went slowly. The instructor apparently was annoyed with her for this and tried to get her to go down faster. When she wouldn't, he actually YANKED her down by her fin! Given that she was having trouble equalizing, she's lucky he didn't cause a barotrauma.

3. On the last day, for their final two OW dives, he showed up REEKING of alcohol and clearly still inebriated.

There was more, but those were the highlights (or should I say lowlights). The bottom line is, if this guy continues to teach, I'm afraid he's going to kill someone.

So the question is, what should *I* do? I know the name of the instructor and dive shop, but the fact is that it didn't happen to me. Yet I feel some obligation to DO something about this! I do have her email address and I'm going to try to get in touch with her, but I don't know for sure that she'll do anything about it herself. I'm not even sure she'll ever dive again, given the bad experience she had. As a regular diver who cares about our sport, I feel like I need to do something to protect his future students.

Opinions?

 

[Blackwood]

but the fact is that it didn't happen to me

I think that's the rub. It's hearsay.

I wouldn't report an instructor to his/her agency on the word of someone I've only met once.

However, warning divers on a public forum (e.g. SCUBAboard) is within reason.

IMO.

 

[stu_in_fl]

she can report it to the agency (she should have also reported to the dive shop owner when it happened and hopefully he would have had words with the instructor)

 

[reservecops]

If you did not actually witness this yourself, I'd be hard pressed to do ANYTHING or to say ANYTHING to anybody. Who knows, this woman could be some gal that this instructor "hooked up" with, but wanted nothing to do with her afterwards, so she's trying to seek revenge.

You may be willing to report something based on hearsay, but I'm certainly not ...

 

[chris408]

I would think the woman had every right to report the instructor, and should. Any indication why she wouldn't report him?

 

[TSandM]

This story sounds really familiar. I think the student in question posted it here at one point.

 

[Geoff_H]

I would report it to the dive shop & agency with the information you posted here - state clearly you didn't witness it personally and the report is based on hearsay.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Frankly, unless you were there to witness it you don't really know what happened. Stories like that tend to be embellished when you are just getting one side. You could encourage her to contact his agency but you should stay out of it.

I know this is probably an old thread...

 

[DandyDon]

Sounds like something I would expect from the Ambergris Op I used once. You know the name...?

 

[Arizona]

LeeAnne,

I agree with the others about reporting things second hand. Was it a PADI instructor? If so, PADI's quality assurance program is designed to catch things like this. The student diver should be getting an email from PADI which should give her the opportunity to inform PADI of the alleged violations of standards if not initiated by the student diver directly.

AZ